Program Assistant (Consultant)

About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center:

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) is an autonomous international organization with a vision to reduce disaster and climate risk impacts on communities and countries in Asia and the Pacific by working with governments, development partners, international organizations, NGOs, civil society, private sector, media, and other key stakeholders.

Established in 1986 as a technical capacity building center, ADPC has grown and diversified its expertise across social and physical sciences to support sustainable solutions for risk reduction across a broad range of specialist areas. With over 100 staff from 19 different nationalities and a wide range of professional expertise with experiences from all levels of engagement typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner. ADPC is a competent regional resource center and has seven thematic departments: Preparedness for Response and Recovery, Risk Governance, Climate Resilience, Urban Resilience, Health Risk Management, Geospatial Information, and ADPC Academy. These are supported by Finance, Human Resources and Administration, and Strategic Planning departments. ADPC works on three cross-cutting themes: Gender and Diversity, Poverty and Livelihoods, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation through permanent working committees. ADPC recognizes the importance of examining the linkages between disaster risk management, poverty reduction, gender equality, sustainability, rights-based approaches, climate change and regional cooperation. ADPC, through its programs, support the implementation of national, regional and global frameworks including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR), the Paris Agreement for Climate Change, the New Urban Agenda, the recommendations and priorities of World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), etc.

For details please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/.

Purpose and Objectives:

In partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ADPC is currently implementing two programs, namely “Program for Strengthening Preparedness for Emergency Response and Recovery in India (PROSPER-India) and “COVID-19: PROSPER-India Program Support to Bihar Government (INCOV)” in Bihar, India. The programs provide technical support to the Government of Bihar for the implementation of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) activities identified by the Bihar Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap 20215-2030 in key government departments. These include interventions in strengthening Emergency Operations Centers for multi-hazard response, enhancing Early Warning Systems, facilitating DRM mainstreaming initiatives in key sectors, and enhancing south-south leaning and knowledge management.

In Ethiopia, ADPC in partnership with the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission (EDRMC) is currently implementing the programs namely “Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Preparedness for Emergency Response and Recovery in Ethiopia (SIPERE)”, and “Improving Coordination Capacity for Preparedness and Emergency Response in Ethiopia (ETCOR)” with funding support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The programs aim to improve the institutional capacity of EDRMC and key sectoral ministries including Agriculture and Health by enhancing systems, capacity, and coordination mechanisms for preparedness and response, and improving information and knowledge management system.

ADPC is looking to recruit a qualified consultant as the Program Assistant to be based at ADPC Head Office in Bangkok, Thailand. The consultant under the overall guidance and supervision of the assigned Program Lead(s), and the Director will assist and coordinate program activities with country program teams, consultants, interns and partners under programs being administered by the Preparedness for Response and Recovery (PRR) Department of ADPC. The Program Assistant is responsible for supporting the implementation of program activities through meticulous planning, review, and follow up with country program teams, as well as program monitoring and evaluation to ensure timely delivery of program activities and reporting.

Note:

It is not the intent of this Position Description to cover every aspect of the position requirements. Instead, it highlights the most critical areas of personal and joint responsibility.

Expected Outputs: Program assistance and financial and administrative support provided to the program teams at Head Office and country offices in India and Ethiopia for timely submission of program documents, delivery of program activities, reporting, documentation as well as program monitoring and evaluation.

Responsibilities and Tasks:

Program Management and Coordination

• Draft annual, quarterly and monthly work plans for the assigned programs, in consultation with the project teams and partners;
• Assist in the coordinate with country program teams, consultants, interns and partners on the timely implementation of program activities according to the agreed work plans;
• Assist in research and development of technical reports and documents, concept notes and consolidate inputs from program partners and stakeholders in consultation with the country program managers and the program teams;
• Assist in screening, review and editing of technical documents;
• Support the planning and conduct of stakeholder consultations and program activities, and draft program related documents e.g. concept notes, letters, minutes of meetings, etc.;
• Provide support and when needed, to plan, organize, and implement regional and national program activities such as workshops, south-south learning visits, program reviews, and meetings, including the conduct of follow-up activities.

Finance and Budget Coordination

• Provide administrative, finance, and day-to-day support working with Finance, Human Resource and Administration departments according to ADPC institutional policies and guidelines for carrying out activities under the programs;
• Assist in the preparation and monitoring of SoWs, ToRs, MoUs, Implementation Agreements, and other related administrative documents for the consultants, sub-awardees, and partnerships;
• Coordinate with Human Resource and Administration department on procurements and prepare administrative documents such as Request for Quotations (RFQ), Gift Certificates, shipping, custom clearance, etc.
• Assist in drafting project and activity budgets following the overall budgets of the programs;
• Assist in project financial management, including monitoring of project budgets and reporting of monthly financial statements and reconciliation;
• Ensure timely submission of liquidation reports by the project countries, partners, and the project staff.

Research, Information and Knowledge Management

• Assist in the design, development, planning and organizing e-learning courses and webinars under the programs;
• Coordinate the design, production, and dissemination of knowledge products such as process documents, fact sheets, brochures, project overviews, multimedia products (audios and videos), success stories/ impact stories, and other related materials;
• Assist in preparing content for monthly electronic newsletters, and briefing materials on the programs as needed/requested;
• Compile and proper filing of program documents, reports and final products.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Under the overall guidance of the M&E Lead, assist in coordination for the assigned programs ensuring all information and data/statistics are collected, updated, maintained, and shared through regular progress reports, program performance monitoring sheets, and donor reporting including the development of data collection tools and templates;
• Assist the program management team to monitor the performance targets against the agreed M&E plans and work plans and report the progress on timely manner.

Working Principles:

In performing the duties and responsibilities indicated above, the consultant will be supervised by the assigned Program Lead(s), under the overall guidance of the Director, Preparedness for Response and Recovery (PRR) Department of ADPC. The consultant will closely work with other Project/Program Managers, Technical Specialists, and Project Coordinators based in Bihar, India and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications and Specifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Disaster Management, Social Science, Development Study, Business Administration, or related disciplines with substantial experience in the Asia-Pacific region. Master’s degree in related field would be an added advantage.
• Proven experience in project coordination, advocacy, knowledge management, etc, in Disaster Management or related a field is required. A minimum of one year of experience in international organizations or IGO required.
• Good command in English, both oral and written, is required.
• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a concise and straightforward manner.
• Substantial experience assisting in the monitoring, and evaluation of programs.
• Familiarity and experience of working with USAID, BMGF, the World Bank, and other donor-funded programs would be an added advantage.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Self-motivated, proactive, and takes initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and organize work & time independently.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, team-oriented work style, and experience in working in a multi-cultural environment.
• Strong networking capacity and understanding of humanitarian and development nexus at local and regional levels.
• Strong desire to learn, undertake new challenges, must be creative problem-solver and must have self-confidence, willingness to work hard, good sense of humor but with seriousness about the quality and excellence of work.

Duty Station: Bangkok, Thailand

Duration: March 2022 to December 2022 with the possibility of extension based on the performance and technical requirement of the position and duration of the project.